National Law relating to EPC, VII. Conversion of European patent applications or patents into national patent applications, Italy
Contracting state | Italy |
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1Basis for conversion |
(1) Conversion into a patent application for an industrial invention: deemed withdrawal pursuant to Art. 77(3) EPC (2) Conversion into a utility model: (a) deemed withdrawal pursuant to Art. 14(2) EPC, if filed in Italian, (b) deemed withdrawal for any other reason, refusal or revocation of the patent Art. 58 PL |
2Procedural steps to be taken |
(a) When the conversion request is received from the EPO the applicant is invited by the UIBM to file a national application with a special annotation (b) Filing of an Italian translation of the abstract, the description, the claims and of the priority document, if any (c) Payment of national filing fee (for electronic filings: EUR 50 / for paper filings: EUR 120 to EUR 600 depending on length of application) Art. 58 PL |
3Time limit for taking procedural steps referred to in section 2 |
(a) and (b): In response to a request by the UIBM giving at least 2 months for compliance Art. 58 PL |
4Must a national professional representative be appointed? |
Not required for procedural steps referred to in section 2; an authorised professional representative before the EPO is not required to file a new authorisation. However, an address for service in the EEA must be given. Art. 147 (3bis) PL |
5Special features |
The UIBM first requires the applicant to give an address for service; only then does it despatch the request referred to in section 3. The granting of a utility model may be applied for at the same time as conversion of the EP application. EP applications refused by the EPO, withdrawn or deemed to be withdrawn may be converted into an application for registration of a utility model. The same applies to European patents revoked for Italy. Art. 58 PL |